12 October 2008

Sauce

I married an Italian grandmother.

We went out to run errands yesterday, and ended up with a half bushel of the last of the local tomatoes. He protested that he had too many other things to do, but I reminded him of how much he would regret it in January if he didn't put up the tomatoes NOW.

We canvassed the house for mason jars, scored some more from his mother, laid in new lids from the hardware store, and he got to work.

It's a simple tomato sauce, he calls it pommarola (the way Bugialli spells it, it's more often spelled pomarola) - tomato, red onion, carrot, celery, parsley and basil - cooked gently for three hours, run through the food mill, cooked again briefly to amalgamate the goodness, and processed in a boiling water bath for 40 minutes. We ended up with fifteen and a half quarts.In mid-winter, it will be so worth it.


The tomatoes were local, the carrots were from our CSA, the parsley and basil came from our garden, and the celery and red onion came from the supermarket (and therefore from who knows where). And hours later, the house still smells divine.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can I borrow him? Next year?

Mayberry said...

...drooling...

I married into an Italian family, but most of the time they're more about the quantity than the quality. Disappointing.

cactus petunia said...

Remind me to come visit in January!

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Wow. Very impressive.

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

!!!!

Purely jealous.

Lady M said...

Yum! That looks terrific.

There is something very satisfying about having stores of good food stocked away.

S said...

mmm... looks divine.

Unknown said...

Ooohh! I think I'll have spaghetti for dinner, though I don't think it will be as good as yours.

Kyla said...

That looks so delicious! I'm practically drooling over here.

Anonymous said...

Our husbands are Nonna's separated at birth.

AnnetteK said...

I'd love to do some canning, but I'm very afraid of poisoning my family!

InTheFastLane said...

OOOOO....send him to my house..please?

crazymumma said...

I have already bought the wine, and I will bring some nice stinky cheese.

Anonymous said...

The photos are AWESOME! Can I fly over to your house now to smell 'it'?!!!!

Cynthia said...

Wow...lucky you!

Aunt Becky said...

Now in dire need of some. Please advise ;)

Girlplustwo said...

you are so sending that to me in the jungle. promise me this.

flutter said...

um can I move in?

LisaMM said...

wanna switch spouses???

Anonymous said...

I'll take him and some sauce please!

Kate Lord Brown said...

That looks soooo good, all the fresh veggies. Inspiring - pasta it is tonight.

shrink on the couch said...

Oh Yum. All full of vitamins, too!

Mental P Mama said...

And to think, I live close enough for dinner;)

Furrow said...

Very, very envious. Can I come visit in January?

BTW, my Magpie feed was broken for who knows how long. Maybe since you bought your own domain name?

niobe said...

They look great (maybe I should try to overcome my wholly irrational fears about canning stuff).

The Library Lady said...

I have never canned tomato sauce and I should--we use it so much. But I did make and can tomato/basil jam last month w/my own tomatoes and basil. It's amazing how many tomatoes you have to chop to get 3 1/2 cups worth!

Vodka Mom said...

Yeah. I have tomato envy.

Debbie D said...

YUM!